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Monday, March 31, 2014

I spent real money ...and got things for me.Well, maybe some for Etsy ...and some for the booths.

I thought these were neat.Shirt hangers for a wardrobe or steamer trunk.Not sure if they really vintage.Put them on Etsy.I can see them pink and Frenchy.There was one shirt and pants hanger.Also on Etsy.Again, I see pink and Frenchy.Lace and vintage buttons.Maybe some typography.Maybe I should keep them.The ideas keep comingIf you want them, you better hurry.

Saturday as we were backing out of the drive, the Fed Ex guy drove past our house.Chucks said that he had better not stop here.He stopped here.With not one big box, but two.Two boxes from Antique Farmhouse.

Look, Danni, body parts! I loved these mannequins.I will admit they were slightly bigger than I thought.I think they need crowns and pearls.Or go outside with rusty tiny stars around their necks.Oh, the possibilities.

Yes, Danni, another head!A ram's head!Chucks definitely did not get the reasoning behind this purchase.I needed a ram for all my sheep.

Okay, I see I took multiple pics with the bright orange price sticker on the mirror in the cage without ever seeing it until I downloaded them.

Vintage turquoise cage.

Chucks thinks it is going to the booth.

Silly, silly Chucks.

IT IS TURQUOISE!

After all the exotic, the vintage, the body parts, this purchase seems mundane.I am painting it.I am trying it out on the front porch.If it fits, it stays.If it does not, it goes.That's the rule.Chucks has been regaling me with stories of some hoarder guy who died, and the authorities had to break through the roof to get to his body.Silly, silly Chucks.Has he seen our attic?See y'all!

Use this discount code to receive 10% off your purchase at the Distressed Donna Etsy store:

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Last Thursday the sun came out of hiding, and though chilly, it was the perfect day to cut back the liriope , rake out the garden beds, and spruce up the side yard.

There was quite a bit of shuffling going on.The house being flipped next door will soon be on the market so I thought cleaning that nasty area facing its master bedroom would be a nice gesture.

I do wish I had taken a before photo to show the debris and leaves piled here.Along with a bunch, no, a herd of rusty things.

It is an area only seen by us and whoever may be living next door.

The electrical lines come in on this side as well as the telephone cables and cable TV.

I started by moving the old green shutter down to the back fence for the clematis to climb.There are bunches of liriope and lilies here - high enough to cover the cables.

While sorting through the rusty treasures, I found the bottomless bucket and the white iron wheel to go at the other end.That stick in front is my nandina bush which was crushed during the ice storm.I am giving it another chance.I know it looks pathetic.I have faith in its ability to recover.

This was my pile of maybe's.

The screen I use to line wire baskets before adding potting soil.

A great deal at Habitat at fifty cents a screen.

Some things will stay, and some will be cleaned for the booth.

I only had three broken pots and a bent bucket.

The vintage patio set is the one Mr. Flipper wanted me to throw in his dumpster.

<No comment.>I am thinking of sanding the set (two chairs and a glider) to repaint.

The metal plant stand is made from welded pipe pieces.

The guy at the flea market had quite a tale about a sailor making it for his wife.

Really?

All of this needs cleaning and sprucing.

The big pot I was using to hold potting soil - it will get a bunch of annuals when the time comes.

Homemade animal trap under the chair will go to the store.

They are great for creeping plants - a square of plant!

I did buy lantanna, speedwell, and salvia - I knew these would hold up to whatever weather is coming the next few weeks.I also dumped several pots of stonecrop and sawed them into quarters.I scattered leftover seeds from last year in the bed and the containers.

There are underground electrical wires running through this bed to the shed and pool. I put the table there to remind me not to dig more than a few inches.Yes, it is a leaner.It has been a great outside table for years.

Concrete planter of stonecrop and some annuals yet to be purchased.

On the other side of the gate from the green shutter is a ladder birdhouse where I attached a wire basket, lined it with screen and planted more stonecrop.The casement window has a hanger for a future planter and an old metal mesh record stand holding a wire basket.This is where my impatiens will go.The other junk is just strategically placed for now.

My footless angel stands in the middle of the bed.She is a bit distressed - I love her.I am a patient gardener.

I do not mind waiting for the full effect of tall, bushy plants blooming.It all looks bare now, but it will fill in. The white birdcage sits on my paint frame.Keep or sell?I usually plant a sweet potato vine in it.Can't decide.Could not find a place for it here in the side yard.It just refused to do the shuffle -It was a bit like musical chairs.If something did not find a place, it will have to find a new home.Tough love.My motto for the garden plants?Live dry or die!I only water when they are putting out roots.

After weed-eating 300 feet of liriope, raking seven carts of leaves, hauling bags of potting soil and mulch, and making tough decisions, this is how we both felt.Shaky, but still standing after the side yard shuffle.When it turns beautiful, I promise to show you.See y'all!

Use this discount code to receive 10% off your purchase at the Distressed Donna Etsy store:

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Stadium seating for ten or more.Mid-century modern benches.Solid oak tops with wrought iron legs.Atomic Age legs.

We will need the Way Back Machine to find more of these.

I had wanted one like these on the first weekend of the estate sale, but unfortunately the bench in the carport was sold.Went back two weeks later and stuff had been dragged out of the storage room.Back behind a vintage car, I spied the legs.

Lying on their tops with their legs in the air, I guess no one had seen what they were.But I knew.Under the fertilizer, the degreasing agent, the giant spider webs and eggs, not ONE but TWO.Two benches.The guy in charge gave me a price.

I accepted immediately.It took two of them to pull them from behind the car.They even loaded them into my truck which was already full.Thank goodness for a heavy duty tailgate...and my lovely 1996 Blazer!

Each was washed and scrubbed several times.

Howard's Restor-A-Finish and Feed-N-Wax.

I did not sand down the distressed marks from years of use. The wrought iron legs were lightly sanded to remove some rust and then waxed with Minwax.

Chucks and I drove them over to Riverfront Antique Mall where they sit right outside the front door.The first person to see them thought they were German beer garden benches.And they do resemble them.The question for you is:Did they come from a stadium?No, the name is just what they are called around here.One is four feet in length, and the other about eight feet.Both bargain priced.Just in case you need stadium seating for ten or more.See y'all!

Use this discount code to receive 10% off your purchase at the Distressed Donna Etsy store: